Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology

This is the journal of the Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU), presenting UFO and paranormal cases from Spain, South America and the Caribbean

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Argentina: Chance UFO Over Buenos Aires

SOURCE: www.analuisacid.comDATE: 02/28/07

ARGENTINA: Possible "Chance" UFO over Buenos Aires

A photo taken in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on February 23, 2007.

The witness says that he was with his family, taking pictures of the obelisk, and that the object that appears in the photo was not visible to their eyes, adding that they took several photos in 20 second intervals and that what could be a chance UFO appears in only one of them. They used a Sony DSC-P200 camera with a normal exposure setting.

The author wishes to use the pseudonym "El Gocho", although his real name is known to Ana Luisa Cid.

Argentina: The Vidal Case Exposed

Editor’s Note: The Vidal Case was deliberately excluded from the INEXPLICATA monograph on the subject of UFOs in the 1960s in South America and Spain due to its complexity. This article by our good friend and contributing editor, Guillermo Gimenez, will give readers the most complete approach to one of South America’s most fascinating and controversial cases.

The story concerning the teleportation of a car from Chascomus, Province of Buenos Aires, to Mexico in 1968, became world famous and it remains today an undisputed classic of Argentinean ufology. Furthermore, it was a the catalyst for the tremendous Argentinean UFO wave of 1968, when all newspapers took to publishing UFO accounts, including older cases that had never appeared in the press.

Chascomus is halfway between Buenos Aires and Necochea, the beachfront city that is the home of Guillermo Gimenez, the author of the following article. There can be no doubt that explaining this case was always among his goals, but the alleged witnesses were always impossible to locate and the rumor mill would kick up people who claimed having known them or were otherwise relatives of the Vidal family. When researchers endeavored to delve into the subject, they would find that these were all false leads. The tip of the iceberg was found by Alejandro Chionetti in the 1980s and it subsequently it was his namesake, Alejandro Agostinelli, who managed to solve a plot that involves the presence of well-known figures from the [Argentinean] entertainment industry, such as Pipo Mancera, Anibal Uset, el Muñeco Mateyko and Tito Jacobson, an entertainment journalist.

Date: May 1968Place: Chascomus, Prov. of Buenos Aires, ArgentinaSummary: A dense fog enveloped a Peugeot 403 belonging to the Vidal couple. The next thing they remembered was finding themselves on a rural road in Mexico, some 6,400 kilometers away, 48 hours later and still aboard their car.

A Report by Guillermo Daniel Gimenez.

There have been countless incidents within the Argentinean UFO case histories that have called attention at the domestic and international level alike due to the characteristics of the events. One of them is without a doubt the Vidal Case, which occurred in May 1968 when a family surnamed Vidal drove along Buenos Aires Route No.2 from the town of Chascomus to Maipu, blacking out upon driving into a fog bank and awakening 58 hours later in the vicinity of Mexico City, in North America.

This incident received global attention and weeks later a “cloak of silence” fell over the events. Neither journalists nor researchers could secure access to the main protagonists, and those upon whom the mantle of silence fell were no longer inclined to speak. Conjectures and suppositions would surround the event.

The Vidal Case would remain among one of Argentina’s spectacular cases of teleportation or teletransportation, a term employed in Ufology to describe cases involving persons and/or objects (in this case the vehicle and its occupants) when they are transferred in a short space of time through means unknown from one place to another, disregarding the space-time barrier. Here, from Argentina in South America to Mexico in North America.

The incident

Numerous Argentinean newspapers took note of the story. La Razon, the Buenos Aires daily newspaper published the information under the headline “Que es esto? (What is this?) – others did the same, such as La Nacion (which did not mention the fog bank) and La Mañana (the only one to report the presence of UFOs in this case), among many others.

“...in early May 1968, a well-known Buenos Aires attorney, Dr. Geraldo Vidal, decided to attend a family get-together with his wife, Mrs. Raffo de Vidal, to be held in the city of Chascomus, less than 120 km distant from Buenos Aires and to the south. The left the gathering shortly before midnight and decided to drive to Maipu, a community some 150 km south of Chascomus, as they had friends and relatives there.

“Driving along national highway No. 2, they had in front of them another car, containing another couple that also had relatives in Maipu. This other family, whose name is unknown, reached Maipú without incident, but this was not the case with the Vidals, whose delay became a cause of concern for those who awaited them. Then, the other couple decided to retrace its steps along the same route in an effort to find them, but had to return to Maipú without achieving this goal or having found the slightest trace of the car or its occupants.

“Forty-eight hours after the Vidals disappeared, at the home of the Rapallini family in Maipú, a phone call came in from the Argentinean consulate in Mexico City, 6,400 km away as the bird flies. In this phone call Dr. Gerardo Vidal told his friends that they were well, and gave them the exact time of his arrival at the Ezeiza International Airport in the capital of the River Plate.

“The Vidals reached Ezeiza at the right time, expected by friends and relatives. Mrs. Vidal was taken directly from the airport to a private clinic, since she was in a state of nervous shock. Dr. Vidal told his relatives of the strange event that had befallen them. He said that when they were in the outskirts of Chascomus on the evening of their disappearance, a “dense fog” materialized suddenly before them, and from that moment onward, they were unable to account what happened to them during the next 48 hours. When they regained awareness of their surroundings, it was daytime and their car, with both of them inside, was parked along an unknown road. They had no physical injuries, but both complained of pain in the nape of the neck and had the sensation of having slept many hours.

”Stunned, they stepped out of the vehicle and noticed that the paint on the chassis appeared to have suffered the effects of a blowtorch. The engine, however, worked perfectly. Putting the car in gear, they drove along the unknown road, crossing a landscape that was utterly unfamiliar. They asked several persons they found along the way and all of them told them the same thing: they were in Mexico.

“Mr. and Mrs. Vidal’s watches had stopped, but using a calendar, they ascertained that they had been gone from Argentina for 48 hours.

“In due time they reached Mexico City, where they asked for the Argentinean Consulate. The retold their incredible adventure there, and the consul allowed them to make a phone call to notary Martin Rapallini in Maipú. Next, the consul, Rafael Lopez Pellegrini, asked them to remain completely silent about the case in order to allow the authorities to investigate.

Dr. Vidal’s car, a Peugeot 403, was shipped to the United States for research, agreeing upon the delivery of a vehicle of the same make and model, paid for by the U.S. authorities.”

These are the facts. Once again, the “cloak of silence” enshrouded the case as confirmed by Dr. Galindez himself, who reported that no one dared speak of the events.

In Search of the Truth

Around this time, the Argentinean press continued reporting on the incident and La Razon explained that the Vidal family had spoken from the Argentinean consulate in Mexico City with a family surnamed Rapallini in Maipú.

All associated this with the notary, Martin Rapallini, a friend or relative of the Vidals (it was later known that this was not their real name, but a pseudonym used to protect the real experiencers), although the notary later professed being completely unaware of this matter.

This “denial” by the notary served as a “confirmation” of the events, as there was a ban on speaking about the case. Only a few weeks later, an alleged witness and relative of the Vidals, a young man surnamed Mateyko, appeared in the news program “Sabados Circulares de Mancera” hosted by journalist Pipo Mancera, to discuss the case

It was also known that Mrs. Vidal, allegedly surnamed Raffo, according to some sources like those of Dr. Galíndez, had been hospitalized due to a nervous breakdown arising from the events, and even Patrice Gaston says in his book “Disparitions Mysterieuses” (Plaza y Janes, Barcelona, 1975, p.72) has her say: “But, what have they done to us in these days? What manner of creatures have had us in their grip?”

Meanwhile, other authors hinted at her death in 1969 – specifically from leukemia – as a result of the uncanny experience. The case continues to add on more mysteries.

A Lie

28 years would elapse before the truth would emerge, and over 36 before it could be reported.

There had been so many obstacles in gaining access to the true protagonists, and given the case’s characteristics, the incident became a classic in world ufology. Authors all over the world took it as a spectacular UFO case. Subsequently, numerous teleportation cases would occur all over the world.

So much was written about the incidents in newspapers, and subsequently books, and presented in conferences and TV programs that even skeptics reported it.

It was Peter Rogerson in "Notes to a Revisionist History of Abduction(Part 4): Recovering the forgotten records", Magonia No. 50,September 1994, who reported having learned in Buenos Aires that the case had been a lie employed to conceal Mrs. Vidal’s missing days while she was committed to a mental health clinic.

Sooner or later the truth would emerge.

Alejandro C. Agostinelli, an Argentinean journalist and researcher, looked into these events and confirmed that it had all been a sham designed to promote an Argentinean science fiction film at the time

In his report “Coches Voladores a Estrenar: Fraudes,Rumores y Ciencia Ficción" co authored with Luis R. González(Spain) and appearing in Anuario, Cuadernos de Ufología, No. 29, 3ra Epoca 2003.Fundación Anomalía, España, he states that he interviewed filmmaker Anibal Uset in 1996, who confessed to having invented the Vidal Case with the assistance of entertainment journalist Tito Jacobson and other friends to promote a movie that opened 2 months after the events, titled “Che OVNI”

The cast of the film included Marcela López Rey, JorgeSobral, Perla Caron, Juan Carlos Altavista, Javier Portales, ErikaWallner, among others, directed by Aníbal Uset from a screenplay by Gius.

Che OVNI was pulverized by critics of the time. The film went by unnoticed and was only recognized years later when some granted it cult status for its role in the early years of Argentinean science fiction.

The movie tells the story of how a hitchhiking Tango singer is picked up by a stunning blonde driving a Peugeot 403, just as in the Vidal Case. After a love scene, he takes the wheel and as he drives, a beam of light from a UFO stops the car and puts the driver to sleep. The frightened blonde leaps from the car and is stripped naked by the UFO. The film moves on, now showing the driver at the wheel of the car during the day, but with a brunette beside him – supposedly an alien – on a road in the outskirts of Madrid, Spain.

The teleportation had taken place along the lines of the Vidal Case. Other scenes and teleportations lead the car to London, and the movie ends at Ezeiza International Airport, where the protagonist is attracted to an airplane – a camouflaged UFO – filled with lovely flight attendants. Uset also told reporter Alejandro Agostinelli that the alleged witness who appeared on the “Sabados Circulares de Mancera” show had been none other than Juan Alberto “Muñeco” Mateyko, his personal assistant and character actor in the movie, who is today a well-known television host.

Uset expressed alarm at how the Vidal Case had gained notoriety and that the “snowball effect” had been among the reasons that led to his silence.

“So many people approached me to say that they had known the Vidals that I began to have doubts. What is more, the confusion was such that I began to think that our story coincided with something that had really happened,” he stated.

Uset is uninterested in revisiting the subject. Even more, it was very hard to secure his story, says Agostinelli.

The entire plot was confected with the aid of journalist Tito Jacobson to promote the movie, which was cooked up by both during a trip between Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

He cannot remember the sources for the events, although he thinks they could have come from a case in either Argentina or England, where he lived for several years. Almost 40 years have gone by since those events and we now know the truth. It was all a lie.

It is important to stress these events. The truth must be known in spite of the case having become a classic of world ufology. Today the Vidal Case will go down in history as a sad reminder in which untruth governed from the start, woven by journalists hoping to provide notoriety to an Argentinean science fiction film. In spite of all this, I wanted to confirm these events myself. The case deserved it. It had been so spectacular, and so much had been written about it, that I wanted to learn more of it. So it was that in January 2004 I got in touch with Alejandro Agostinelli, my friend (editor of www.dios.com.ar, a Spanish-language website devoted to extraordinary beliefs), who first looked into these events and “spoke” to the person directly responsible for the case. At my request, he said the following about the incident:

Guillermo Gimenez: How did you come across the Vidal Case?

Alejandro Agostinelli: It was an intriguing and popular case when we began to develop an interest for the subject of UFOs in the mid-‘70s. Everyone knew – to a lesser or greater extent – someone who claimed having dealt with the protagonists of the case, “the Vidals”, but when you tried to get to the core of the matter, you found out that that person had not been with the Vidals, but had only gleaned it from a third party. It was an endless rumor loop. At the time we were not only unaware of the characteristics and transmission process of a rumor, but that we were actively feeding into it, albeit innocently. I then followed the adventures of my friend Alejandro Chionetti when he visited Maipú around 1980 to interview the Rapallini family, who were the “only indirect protagonists” who could be located. No one knows how this family was involved with the mysterious couple that was “teleported to Mexico”. When notary Martin Rapallini claimed having no knowledge of the matter, the “La Razon” and “La Capital” newspapers (the media outlets that confected the alleged scoop) published the denial with a considerable air of skepticism, as if saying that by denying the matter, he was in fact “covering up for the Vidal – Raffo couple”, arguing that “there was a strict ban on disseminating the case.” If memory serves, it was the La Capital newspaper from Mar del Plata who christened the heretofore anonymous experiences as “the Vidals” to protect them from the rapaciousness of the press, since “Dr. Vidal” was “a distinguished professional.” This ironclad anonymity assured that the case could not be verified, and would later become essential in turning it into an urban legend.

GG: Would evidence confirm that it was in fact a hoax?

AA: It can be said, with a wide margin of certainty, offered by many students of the subject and the passing of time, that there was never solid evidence regarding the existence of a couple that experienced an adventure of such characteristics at that time and place.

It has also been confirmed that Che OVNI was slated to open two months later, a movie with ingredients copied from the case, and which had begun shooting long before “the story” broke in the news. If memory serves, it was Anibal Uset, Che OVNI’s director, who in the early Nineties told Chionetti that the case was a ruse to promote the film. Alex was in the U.S.A at the time and I was following the leads. In 1996 I came across Uset and we started to hold meetings. Between our second and third encounter, when we had developed mutual trust, he began to tell his version of the events. Uset’s testimony was critical. But even without him, the parallels between the film’s content (teleportation of a car to a distant country, with was a white Peugeot 403 both in the movie and in the Vidal Case) and the structure of the story offered by the media, it can be clearly seen that the relation between story and movie is quite obvious. More coincidences? The only “indirect” witness of the events, who appeared on television (specifically in “Sabados Circulares...”) was a youth who Pipo Mancera presented as “a direct relative of the Vidals.” That witness was Juan Alberto “Muñeco” Mateyko, a now prominent TV host who worked with Uset and was a supporting cast member in the film.

GG: So what’s your opinion about it today?

AA: I think that there’s enough evidence to state that one of the cases that contributed to the 1968 UFO flap in Argentina was a journalistic fraud aimed at promoting a movie. Thanks to the story’s exacting structure and the cultural predisposition toward accepting it at the time, the tale’s credibility grew when it became part of popular imagination, becoming what we now call an urban legend. What is persuasive about the story is that it ran away from its creators and acquired a life of its own. Scholars of this subject at the time considered it genuine despite having never interviewed “the Vidals”. Articles appeared in magazines like Flying Saucer Review or Lumieres Dans la Nuit, books were written, the story was mentioned a thousand and one times in UFO conferences, radio and television shows, and of course, there were also “skeptical counter rumors” such as the one by Peter Rogerson in Magonia, who cited an anonymous source and wrote that the case had been “a fraud to justify Mrs. Vidal’s absence while she was committed to a mental health clinic.”

But what surprised me the most isn’t that people believed it so readily at the time, but a passing remark made by Uset. When he realized the story’s magnitude, the director told me that he began to think the case had been real! “So many people came to tell me that they had known the Vidals that I began to have doubts,” he said. “What’s more, the confusion was such that I began to think that our story had dovetailed with an actual event.” At the time, the fact the questioned his own creation startled me. But I think that this helps to understand how UFO stories are built along with many other modern myths. If even a hoaxer can be led to doubt, this means that mysteries are able to overcome any denial. That’s why I think myths are indestructible. Countless teleportation cases have occurred in Argentina and around the world, but the Vidal Case was a lie.”

And this how “Ale” reconfirmed these events.

Today, the Vidal Case from May 1968, in which a family was teleported from an Argentinean road in the province of Buenos Aires to Mexico, has been explained. We know the real story to be another.

All of this proves the importance of carrying out UFO re-investigations, even in those cases that are considered landmarks in Ufology.

It falls to researchers, ufologists, to be open to all possibilities. To be flexible in conducting new research, dispensing with unquestionable notions and reformulating, if need be, our own ideas. See the alternate possibilities, no matter how dark, and weed out cases. All of this in benefit of Ufology. We should thus separate the truth from lies to undertake serious communication and research into the UFO phenomenon, unmasking cases such as this one.

Chile: Ghostly Image Captured on Cellphone

SOURCE: IIEE and Crónica NewspaperDATE: 02.24.07

CHILE: CELLPHONE PICKS UP GHOSTLY IMAGEby Tania Merino

Technicians believe the phenomenon is "bizarre"

The time was 11:02 pm on February 4, 2007 when after a family get-together in a house at Villa Cap, a 25 year-old man tried to take a photo of his mother with his cellphone camera. All of the guests were gone and only the young man and his parents were in the house. It was for this reason that uncertainty gripped them all when they saw the images that the cellphone had captured.

Only in one of the snapshots, taken in a quick sequence of four photographs, did the woman appear. The rest of them picked up sections of the face of a man who looks straight into the lens and who was never in the room.

"My mom got nervous, I put the cellphone away, we checked the house, but there was no one there but us," said the young man, who preferred anonymity rather than face public questioning of his sanity. He said that "a heavy atmosphere" weighed over the house at the time, that it was "saturated", and that strange things had already occurred them, such as objects moving without any reason whatsoever.

Upon seeing what had happened, he fired another volley of three photos and the same thing occured. The man's face reappeared.

He nervously showed us the time and date of the images captured by the cellphone. All of them correspond to the hour and minute he indicated and each sequence falls within the same minute: 23.02, 23.03, 23.05 and 23.06 minutes. the photos remain inside the cellphone until their origin can be ascertained.

The next day, he informed his brother of the event and they uploaded the images to a computer through a USB cable. They assembled the parts of the jigsaw puzzle and were surprised to clearly see the features of a man aged between thirty and forty, wearing a white suit and shirt. "This is a person that doesn't exist in the household; no one knows him. No one in my family wears three piece suits, to begin with."

"I even asked the old owner of my mother's house and she had never seen him either," he added.Furthermore, he added that "the other day a neighbor who drives a taxi cab was getting home at 3 a.m. when he saw an image appear in the backyard of our house, a man wearing a three-piece suit and smoking. The driver turned oun the headlights, but by the time he did so, there was no one there." Our interviewee showed the cellphone images to the neighbor and the driver recognized him - not by the face, but by the shape and the suit.

"Now I want to know who this person is, what he wants and what he needs," he concluded fearfully.We consulted with an expert from a cellular telephony company and explained the situation. "Nowadays, cameras have a VGA system with pixels, and capture the image that is before them. These can only be manipulated and rearranged by editing, but there is no way that they can invent an image or create that of a person that isn't standing in front of the camera," explained Roman Montero. He admitted that it is "bizarre, because I can't find a logical explanation for it. It is impossible that it should occur. A camera cannot photograph something that it can't see," he added. He suggested taking the photos to a lab and to have them analyzed. He understood the urge to associate the images with a ghost. In earlier times, the exposure of a negative could justify such a thing, but it is not possible with a digital photograph.

UFO at Los Confines Airport, Chile

Chile: Alleged UFO at Los Confines Airport

Source: NOUFA (Noticiero Ufologico Autonomo)Date: 02.23.07

CHILE: Alleged UFO at the Los Confines Airport (9th Region of Chile)

A strange flying object was picked up by a Nikon digital camera belonging to an airplane mechanic working at Angol's Los Confines airfield. The photo was taken in November 2006 and the photographer did not become aware of the intruder's presence until he checked out several panoramic shots he had taken of the area.

According to the first impressions of people who have analyzed the photo, some believe they can see a sort of aura surrounding the object with some colored lights around it. Are these mere optical illusions? A UFO? A distorted intrusive object? Analysis of the picture is underway.

Two years ago, when aerobatic trials by the "Halcones" group belonging to the Chilean Air Force were being performed, an Unidentified Flying Object shaped like a cylinder was captured on film. That photo remains unexplained.

Friday, February 23, 2007

To Our Readers

An effort to make the cases for the month of February 2007 as complete as possible has caused news items from the first two weeks of the month to appear later in the same month. Our apologies for this inconvenience.

Puerto Rico: Summary of UFO Cases

Date: 4 February 2007Location: In front of the Mayaguez ZooWitness: Pedro NavarroTime: 11:10 AMObject Description: Shining metallic oval (glowing silver) like two superimposed plates. Material glowed, no lights.Evidence: None.Summary: When Mr. Navarro drove past the Mayaguez Zoo, he saw a plate-shaped UFO in the sky. He described it as a shining metallic oval flying under the clouds, thus placing its altitude at some 3000 feet. Approximate angle of altitude: 15 degrees; Compass direction: SW. Movement: SE. Material was shiny and without lights. When the witness saw it, it was static and in a matter of seconds (15 sec. Approximately) it zigzagged and headed toward a cloud, where it hid. Mr. Navarro did not get out of his car to follow its maneuvers, as he was late for an activity. Nor could he take a photo, as he didn’t have his camera with him. He said that the object had the apparent size of a birthday balloon. Note: could there be any relationship between this object and the video recorded at the zoo an hour later? Remark: This was the first experience by Mr. Navarro with a UFO. He was pleased to see one.Evidence analyzed: N/AConclusions reached: None. No further reports on the same object.Source: Ovni.Net http://www.ovni.net

Brief description of the creature: Egg-shaped head, two black eyes, small mouth and nose. Creature appears to have luminescence or irradiates light in its surroundings.Summary: Jessica’s 5 year old had been given a class assignment regarding animals. He had to take a photo and say something about the animal in question in class. Jessica took him to the Mayaguez Zoo, because the child selected elephants. When they reached the house and began watching the video, they were stunned that the in the area were there a wooden monkey and chickens can be found, there stood a strange creature they believe “not to be from this world.” They rewound their video camera and were able to see it, freezing the moment where the creature can be seen. Without saying a word, as the boy was present, the child said, “that looks like an alien.” Jessica was so frightened that she didn’t sleep in her house that night. She wants to know what that thing could be, because it ***was not there*** when the video was taken. There was no one around beyond the wooden monkey and chickens. What appears on film does not look like anything from our world.

Note: Jessica brought the video camera on Tuesday, 6 Feb. to Lucy Guzman’s house to have the video copied onto the computer and have it analyzed. Misael took the video. Jessica’s mother was near the monkey cages at the time (the animals were disturbed, restless and suddenly bumped into something before retreating into the shelter) and complained about not feeling well. The other animals were lying down and inactive. Misael felt that very same sensation in the area where the wooden monkey and chickens are located, where the strange image was captured. The mother is not sensitive; this is the first time she has felt this sensation.

Video pre-evaluation: A change of light is evident, like a silhouette. Lucy Guzman, Orlando Pla and Andrew Alvarez also saw a dark, humanoid image that they believe could be the manifestation seen by the couple. There also appears to be a face on the tree. Better analysis is required.

Source: http://www.andrewalvarez.net and http://www.ovni.net

UFO OVER VEGA BAJA, P.R.

Date: Sunday, 4 February 2007Place: Vega Baja, Puerto RicoWitnesses: Rita Rivera and her sisterTime: Night. Exact time to be verified from the videoObject Description: White light with horizontal motionEvidence: Yes, video.Summary: A UFO was seen and recorded. They noticed a light in the sky behaving oddly and decided to observe it and videotape it. The light was following a horizontal route and suddenly shut off. They say it was not a satellite because they are familiar with satellites and their behavior.Reported in person by both sisters to Lucy Guzman on 8 February 2007.Conclusions: Pending. Ovni.net is waiting for the video to subject it to analysis.Source: Ovni.Net http://www.ovni.net

STRANGE OBJECTS APPEAR IN RESEARCHER PHOTOGRAPHS

Date: Thursday, 8 February 2007Location: Moca, Puerto RicoTime: 12:34 p.m.Witness: Orlando Pla and Lucy Guzman on site, but the objects were seen in photograph form only.Object description: 4 photos showing white objects in the sky. Another with the 4 objects darkens in the middle and the other 3 move to the right of the photo. A whitish face with dark eyes appears on the second tree from left to right.Evidence: Yes, digital photos.Summary: Lucy and Orlando visted la Casona as tourists. The sky was completely clear. Photos and video were taken Returning home, and seeing the photos taken by Lucy, they noticed that images IMG_0637, IMG_0638, IMG_0639, IMG_0640 (taken in sequence at 12:34 pm.) show objects that shouldn’t be there.

Photo # IMG_0637 shows nothing in the sky or on the tree. Photo # IMG_0638 shows an apparent whitish face with large black eyes concealed among the foliage in the second tree to the left; IMG_0639 shows 4 amorphous white object sin the sky to the right of the photo and an apparent white face with large black eyes, and photo IMG_0640 displays one of the 4 white objects in the same place but with a darkened middle. The other three in the area above the foliage show the apparent white face with dark eyes.

Note: Only Lucy Guzman’s photos and video have been subjected to pre-evaluation. The ones taken by Orlando Pla have not. It should be noted that poltergeist phenomena have been reported in the house (dark shadows, opening doors, loud noises, chains, almost all of them at night). Upon reconstructing the house Indian artifacts were found, suggesting the possibility of native burial grounds.

Source: Ovni.Net http://www.ovni.net

BRIGHT OBJECT OVER MAYAGUEZ, P.R.

Date: Thursday, 8 February 2007Location: Mayaguez Lions Club, P.R.Time: 7:00 p.m.Witnesses: Lucy Guzman, Orlando Pla and another gentlemanObject Description: Very bright white light, under the clouds, with an apparent size twice that of Saturn.Evidence: An attempt to videotape it was made, but it was not picked up.Summary: Lucy was in the parking lot of the Lions Club and upon looking at the sky, noted that there was a very intense white light following an east-west trajectory under the clouds, at an approximate elevation of 1,500-2000 feet. Lucy first thought it could be the ISS, but the cloud level dismissed the possibility. The light dimmed, losing its brilliance. Later it recovered until it became even more intense and larger. The gentleman present insisted it was just an airplane, but the fact that it disappeared and had no navigation lights caused him to dismiss the possibility.Remarks: The night was very clear with few clouds. No taste was perceived, no sounds were heard, no peculiar odors detected, no impact on the electric grid.Reported by: Lucy GuzmanVideo analyzed; N/A/Conclusions: Based on observation, behavior, altitude, it was not a known aircraft, artificial satellite, meteorite or space junk. It was not possible to determine the light’s nature.Source: Ovni.Net http://www.ovni.net

UNEXPLAINED LIGHT OVER LAKE CARRAIZO

Date: Friday, February 9, 2007Location: Route 52 from Caguas to San Juan, near Lake CarraizoWitness: Lucy GuzmanTime: 2:00 a.m.Description of object: A very bright white light with the apparent size of a ping-pong ball.Evidence: None could be obtained. Vanished before camcorder could be secured.Summary: Lucy Guzman and Orlando Pla were returning from Mayaguez, had paid the last tool near Caguas and were near Lake Carraizo. Lucy noticed that to her right, above the lake, there was a very bright ball of light approximately 1000 meters high, moving from east to west. It was slowly heading toward the expressway. She had her gear in the back seat; she reached for the camcorder, but by the time she removed the lens cap, the light was gone. She looked all around for it and it was nowhere to be seen. She doesn’t know if the object made any noise, as the car radio and air conditioner were on.Reported by: Lucy GuzmanVideo analyzed; N/A/Conclusions: Known objects were discarded. It was not possible to identify the source of the light.Source: Ovni.Net http://www.ovni.net

SINGLE WHITE LIGHT SEEN FROM GURABO, P.R.

Date: Friday, 9 February 2007Location: Montanitas de Guaynabo, the ones nearest Route 52 from San Juan to Caguas.Witness: Edwin Fontanez (civil engineer, amateur astronomer, pilot and paranormal researcher)Time: Between 2 and 2:15 a.m., approximately.Object description: A single white light emerged from a cloud and headed toward San Juan.Evidence: None.Summary: Edwin was in Gurabo with some friends. He was outdoors and, as an amateur skywatcher, he looked at the sky. Between 2:00-2:15 a.m. he saw a single white light emerging from a cloud and heading toward San Juan. As he was in the town of Gurabo and the light was over Guaynabo (above the small hills that face the expressway from San Juan to Caguas) he could see the small light, looking like a star. When the light made a sideways move (route change), a single light remained visible. As a pilot, he says that it wasn’t any known aircraft. The light went away from his field of vision. Note: these small hills the witness refers to are exactly on the opposite site of the expressway, where Lucy saw the light over the lake. Could it be the same light that Lucy reported in the area at 2:00 a.m.? It was logical that he should see it smaller due to the distance of his vantage point.Reported by: Edwin Fontanéz to Lucy Guzmán, Orlando Pla, and G.M. at Lucy Guzman’s house on February 12, 2007Video analyzed: N/AConclusions: Light could not be determined.Source: Ovni.Net http://www.ovni.net

UFO Over Downtown Villarica

SOURCE: Diario Austral de TemucoDATE: Thursday, 02.08.07

UFO reported over downtown Villarrica: witnesses tell their stories

The community of Villarrica is stunned by the sighting of an unidentified flying object on Tuesday morning over the city’s downtown district. The sighting took place at 0700 hours on Tuesday (02.06.07) while a group of workers waited for the bus at the Rural Terminal and vendors for the International Fair set up their stands for the day’s displays. They looked up to the sky to see an enormous object that hung in the air above for nearly 5 seconds. The situation was such that all are in agreement over seeing a large UFO, and that the object was also pursued by other yellow lights at the same time over Villarrica.

The Witnesses Speak

Luis Obregon was one of the first to see this UFO. According to his account, it was after 7 a.m.. “I was waiting for the bus with some friends to get to work. At that time we saw a giant light in the sky, orange in color, with several lights behind it. All of us who were at the Terminal saw it.” The appearance of this UFO at the intersection of Matta and Vicente Reyes streets left everyone astonished. “I was staring at it and couldn’t believe it. It was a large vessel with very powerful lights. Behind it were some 15 smaller lights that glowed brightly. It was evidently a UFO because it was broad daylighta and that was the only thing in the sky,” added Obregon.

But he and his friends weren’t the only ones to see the craft. Workers for the International Fair of Native Products, operating two blocks away from the bus station, also saw the craft. “I was with my dad and we were going to the countryside to look for stuff. Then we saw something in the sky that we at first took for a flare, but that was impossible at the time. It was an orange-colored craft with several lights, that remained sort of parked in the sky and then fell,” said young Andres Gutierrez. The 15 year-old says that while he felt no fear, he was impressed by the object’s speed and its quick movements in the air. “It was a fast ship with powerful movmenets, like a comet or a flare,” he said.

Another worker, who preferred to remain anonymous so as to avoid problems with his co-workers, saw the craft at that same time. “It was after seven o’clock in the morning, perhaps 7:10, when I was off to take the bus. That’s when I saw the UFO. It was a huge ship and it stopped right above us. Before that, I wasn’t much of a believer, but after I saw it, I had no doubt that there is life on other worlds.”

But this wasn’t the only case. Even the community of Quino, 5 kilomters from Victoria, was buzzed by a UFO that caused consternation among locals.

Chile:UFO Videotape Causes Nationwide Stir

Source: Diario Renacer (Angol, Chile)Date: 02.08.07

CHILE: UFO Videotape Causes a Stir Nationwide

Raul Gajardo Leopold's latest video recording, in which he claims that his son picked up an unidentified flying object over Angol in the first few days of Februray, was seen throughout the entire country after the video was aired during a newscast on the Megavision network.

According to Gajardo, this recording was made in the "El Mirador" district of Angol, and the UFO phenomenon was witnessed by four other people besides himself after 11 p.m.: his son, Raul Gajardo Torres, who made the recording; Ulises Benavides Vega, and Ricardo Rojas and his 14 year-old son, Ricardo Rojas Aedo. Raul Gajarod noted that the UFO was seen for over a minute at an approximate distance of one kilometer and 200 meters over the Pino Huacho sector to the northeast of Angol.

The ufologist added that the UFO was a large, orange, cylinder-shaped object -- similar to a pencil -- that lay horizontally in the sky, having a whitish light at its core. He further added that they could clearly see reddish dots on either end, and that two smaller spherical object swere launched upward and downward at a given moment.

The researcher also added that it is possible to see several UFO phenomena on a daily basis, within a 3-hour observation period. For this reason, he says, "I believe that we are at a peak period, because only two could be seen in October and November. Now on the other hand, we can see many more."

Chile: Chilean Army Discloses Recordings, Secret UFO Contacts

CHILE: Chilean Army Discloses Recordings and Secret Contacts with UFOs

The evidence was presented before one thousand people at the 10th International UFO Congress, which highlighted a video taken seven years ago, showing moments in which Navy vessels and helicopters pursue a UFO that was even picked up on radar.

Santiago de Chile - The Chilean Army revealed to the UFO community classified material regarding recordings and encounters between the military and UFOs over the past 30 years, according to the El Mercurio newspaper today. The evidence was presented at the 10th International UFO Congress, highlighting the display of a video that captures a UFO pursuit by surface vessels and helicopters of the Chilean Navy seven years ago, according to Rodrigo Fuenzalida, director of the Agrupacio de Investigaciones Ovnilogicas (AION).

Another pursuit took place on March 27, 2000 when a Citation 2 military aircraft crossed an unidentified flying object, measuring 40 meters in length, at an altitude of 1000 meters and 100 kilometers away from the Chilean capital.

Disclosure of this information was authorized by Oscar Izurieta, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, and forms part of an official investigation undertaken by Rodrigo Bravo, captain of the Army's 5th Division, who participates in the congress, which is being held at the Viña del Mar resort 120 kilometers distant from Santiago de Chile.

Mexico: Alleged UFO Over Motul

Source: Diario de YucatanDate: 02.07.07

MEXICO: ALLEGED UFO OVER MOTUL

Yucatan - Police BlotterAlleged UFO Over MotulA red dot is seen to move in the sky in a sequence of photos

A light supposedly originating from an unidentified flying object was discovered on the night of the celebrations of Our Lady of Candelaria by two women who were taking an evening constitutional in the city of Motul.

The sky was clear and the moon was unclouded. The time was 11:00 p.m. when Lucy Aracely Bacelis Castro and her cousin Margely Bacelis Escalante went outside to enjoy the breeze. After being on the street for a while, Aracely looked skyward and was startled by a very bright moon. "Why don't you take a photo of it?" suggested Margely. Aracely took out her cell phone and trained it on the heavenly body, but upon seeing the image onscreen, she was startled to see a red light on the moon. Intrigued by this, she took other photos and the red dot was in all of them.

"The sequence shows that the object is moving," claims Aracely, who would like to find out what the light in question happened to be. "A cousin says that the dot is a galactic stone (sic) that appears every 18 years, but could it be possible that 18 years just happened to roll around on that exact day?"The women are interested in contacting Jaime Maussan, a journalist who researches the UFO phenomenon, to dispel their doubts. "It's interesting that this should have happened to us," they say. However, others who have seen the photos have expressed their apprehension. "I don't know what it means, but I don't like it one bit," says Guadalupe Escalante. "I'm somewhat surprised. If they're really extraterrestrials, I hope they go away," she added.

During the months of June, July and August last year, UFO watchers were pleased by the alleged manifestation of lights in the sky which could be seen from different directions in Ticul, in the southern end of the state.

Mexico: Airliner Crew Records UFO on Cellphone

On January 28, 2007, flight mechanic Enrique Morales Piedras recorded—on his cellphone-- a sperical object crossing the skies over the region of the Popocatépetl e Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes.

According to a report given to researcher Alfonso Salazar, he was aboard a Boeing 737-200, registration XA-MAC, flying between Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta.The witness says the flight took off at 9:20 a.m. toward Texcoco on runway 5 right. The airliner began to rise and at an elevation of 10,000 feet followed the Toluca VOR. At this time Mr. Morales Piedras began to make a recording with his cellphone, since the view was inspiring, the volcanoes were covered in snow and the weather was completely clear and sunny.

As he recorded the scenery, the airliner’s captan said: “Look, what’s that over there?” pointing straight ahead. It was at that moment that he recorded – in the eleven o’clock position – a spherical, seemingly metallic object at an estimated distance of 200 meters. The time was 9:23 a.m.

“What is most relevant of this evidence upon reviewing the video, aside from seeing the sphere, the audio picks up the TICAS alarm, which repeats: “Traffic, traffic...” meaning that the on-board collision avoidance radar picked up the flying object, which then moved to the left and sped away quickly,” concluded researcher Alfonso Salazar, adding that as soon as he has the witness’s authorization, he will release the recording.

Mexico: Yucatan UFO a Balloon?

SOURCE: Diario de YucatanDATE: 02.02.07

UFO Turns Out To Be A Balloon?

Carlos Uicab Sulu never thought that keeping a religious promise to the Child of Atocha would cause such a sensation and wonder in Merida.The promise consisted in launching a balloon into the sky, which was observed by several citizens of Merida, some of whom videotaped and photographed the balloon, not knowing what it was.

As we reporterd yesterday, the sighting of a strange light that caused curiosity among many people was recorded on Saturday.

Uicab Sulu promise to launch a balloon in the saint’s honor, and took advantage of a novena held in a house of the San Jose Vergel district. The balloon was raised aloft by a diesel flame and was adorned with luminaries.

Comment from Ana Luisa Cid: Merida researchers have not confirmed this news item. However it is feasible that the case may have been an error of perception on the part of the eyewitnesses, who mistook a balloon for a UFO.

Mexico: Object Causes Astonishment in Merida

On the evening of January 27, 2007 at 8:30 p.m., dozens of people informed the local media of Yucatán, Mérida of the presence of unidentified flying objects in the sky, which they described as having a circular shape with eight surrounding lights, adding that the object made oscillating movements and that it vanished into the horizon after a few minutes.

This sighting was captured on video by Mr. René Couoh Chacón from the Vicente Solís district, showing the evidence to reporters from the "Por Esto" newspaper and Mexican researchers Gustavo Aleman and Prof. Silvestre Leal of the OVNI MERIDA group.According to the witnesses, around 6 p.m. and before the sighting of the alleged UFO, a kind of shooting star crossed the firmament from west to east, but it had a rectangular shape and a trail of light.

Victor Lara Martinez, a reporter for the "Por Esto" daily, says that one woman interviewed stated that some onlookers heard the alleged UFO make a noise similar to that of helicopters, although its shape did not correspond at all to the means of transportation in question.

Researchers from OVNI MERIDA are currently analyzing the video, saying that they wish to ascertain if a UFO or a balloon was involved, moreover because said community manufactures large "Cantoya"-type balloons surrounded by luminaries. However, and without dismissing the possibility a priori, we believe that residents of the town in question can identify one of those balloons correctly and the sighting would not have been the cause for such a commotion, one that was even worthy of mention in the press.

It should be noted that reports of nocturnal UFOs over Mexico were received on this same date.

Chilean Army Discloses Pilot-UFO Encounters

** Captain Rodrigo Bravo recounted the experiences of several pilots with unidentified flying objects during an international conference on the subject, presenting videos and photographs **

07:45 a.m. - the Chilean Army, during an unprecedented event, disclosed last night a series of sightings and encounters between military pilots and unidentified flying objects (UFO).

Captain Rodrigo Bravo, with authorization of the Army Command, took part in an international discussion of the subject, held in the resort city of Viña del Mar, in which he disclosed "spectacular" experiences in various parts of Chile.

Bravo presented videos and photographs during the meeting while discussing the encounters that pilots of his branch had undergone in the past 10 years.

Chile, with 15.5 million inhabitants, ranks fifth in the world when it comes to the highest number of UFO sightings, after the United States, Peru, Brazil and Russia.

Over 600 sightings have been recorded in this country, particularly in the northern region, over the past 60 years. This area has also been the scenario for cases considered startling, including "CE3K" -type contacts with extraterrestrials.

The Army officer recalled that on April 2, 1997, in the city of Arica's Chacalluyta airport, the pilot of a T-212 figthter aircraft witnessed an elongated orange object in the sky for nine minutes.

Another incident of similar characteristics took place in early 2000 in the southern region of Los Lagos, while three military helicopters flew by in broad daylight.

"The crew members witnessed an object on the ground that swiftly rose to the same altitude as the aircraft, positioning itself in front of them, almost on a collision course," said Captain Bravo to an audience that saturated the facilities of the Viña del Mar municipal theater.

He added that the unidentified flying object vanished at high speed after engaging in zig-zagging movements.

Subsequently, on March 18 of that year, in the locality of Graneros, some 70 kilometers south of Santiago, the crew of a military aircraft claimed having seen an elongated, lead-colored object that took off at high speed after having flown beside them.

"All of these cases are certified by the Comité de Estudios de Fenómenos Aéreos Anómalos (CEFFA), the best suited in Chile for this type of research," added the military man.

Rodrigo Fuenzalida, director of the Agrupación de Investigaciones Ovniológicas de Chile (AION), told EFE that having the Army's cooperation sets the example for mature behavior on the part of "this institution, which consented to open its files and have them subjected to serious scrutiny."

Fuenzalida maintains that all that is needed now is for the Government to assume a similar posture and support the opening of these files, which has occurred in such countries as Brazil.UFO sightings "are no longer a novelty" and experts claim that 60 million people worldwide have witnessed this phenomenon, although only ten percent of these experiences are made known, due to the fear of being ridiculed.(translation (c) 2006. Scott Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Ing. Marco Reynoso, Fundacion Cosmos, A.C.)

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Chile: "It can no longer be concealed. UFOs are a hazard."

Source: Las Ultimas Noticias (Chile)Date: Thursday, February 8, 2007Captain Bravo: "It can no longer be concealed. UFOs are a hazard."Shy and offering explanations: That was how Captain (Ret.) Rodrigo Bravo of the Chilean Army presented the charter of the Tenth International Congress on Ufology in Vi�a del Mar, organized by the AION-Chile group, who relied on the military man to open the debate on the relationship between the armed forces and unidentified phenomena.But Bravo repeated often: "I am speaking from my personal point of view and do not represent the Army in any way." Thus, he had no choice than to expound, one by one, on the subjects discussed in his dissertation to graduate from flight school, the ones that mentioned UFO sightings by military and civilian aviation.And just when the audience was beginning to nod off during the monologue, the captain uttered the sentence that made the hairs of the most hardened ufologists stand on end. "The only authority that can make pronouncements on UFOs is he Comite de Estudios de Fenomenos Aereos Anomalos Espaciales (CEFAA). It is the official agency, unlike so many others that have been created. I say this, even though it may upset some." Those where his first broadsides. When he mentioned that ufology was not a science and "it was hard for it to be one, given the lack of common patterns," the audience stirred in its seats.There was tension in the air when he detailed the events that caused him to look skyward. �What CEFAA still cannot accept are the goings-on at Estancia Baker. Since 1997, residents of this military property, Chileans and Argentineans, record 20 to 25 maneuvers a year. On one occasion, an object entered the precinct, entered the water tower, caused a blackout and took off," he reported.The man had no choice but to acknowledge "this is something that can be concealed no longer. UFOs are a potential hazard for aerial operations."Prior to Captain Bravo's presentation, the audience warmed up to a documentary on the Paihuano Case, where broadsides were fired against the police officers that, in 1998, concealed an alleged UFO crash in this locality of Chile's Fourth Region.This was followed by the appearance of Armando Valdes, the fireproof soldier who became known in April 1977 when he vanished for 15 minutes after being completely enshrouded by a brilliant light near Putre. "I have struggled for years to find out what happened in the North (Putre); I have wrestled with God," admitted Valdes before a supportive audience that took in his words with deep emotion. "I want you to know that it took me a long time to get over being a weirdo," added the Army sergeant, who vanished from the stage after his presentation, as if he had been abducted yet again.

Mexico: UFOs Reported in Baja California

SOURCE: Diario El Mexicano and www.analuisacid.comDATE: February 5, 2007MEXICO: UFOs REPORTED IN BAJA CALIFORNIAby Jose I. Ibarra GonzalezTIJUANA. Over 40 unidentified flying objects (UFOs) were sighted by residents of the Altabrisa district around 10:40 a.m. yesterday morning (Sunday, 4 February).They stated that these objects were shiny and in formation although not in geometric order. They remained for over 10 minutes in the northern part of the sky and then headed toward Playas de Tijuana (West)."There were 38 in the first group, then they headed toward Playas, and another group of 5 or 6 appeared, heading off in the same direction," according to one of the witnesses.Residents of this district, located to the side of the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, stated that they were very surprised by what they had seen in the sky yesterday."At the time that the shining objects were there, an airplane went past. They must've seen them," said one of the locals.Moreover, Enrique Valle Alvarez, manager of the Abelardo L. Rodriguez International Airport at Tijuana, stated that no aircraft sent out any alert whatsoever.He said that the Control Tower did not report any unusual situations. However, it is possible that the Air Navigation Services of the Mexican Air Space may have more information. "There were no incidents and nothing was reported to me," he said.(Translation (c) 2006. S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Ana Luisa Cid and Jose Ibarra Gonzalez)__,_._,___

Mexico: Airliner Crews Report Unidentified Flying Objects

SOURCE: www.analuisacid.com and Alfonso Salazar MendozaDATE: February 20, 2007MEXICO: SIGHTINGS REPORTED BY AIRLINE PERSONNEL**Reports from researcher Alfonso Salazar Mendoza**On February 13, 2007 at 9:25 a.m., a UFO was reported over Mexico City International Airport, flying slowly from north to south. Its aspect was metallic and its overall shape spherical, reflecting the sun's rays with silvery flashes, according to the descriptions given by aviation technicians who witnessed the sightings. They estimated that the object flew at approximately 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) and the observation took place near air terminal #2 of said airport. Among the witnesses was researcher Alfonso Salazar, who added the probable UFO was lost from sight as it headed toward the sun, from his perspective.The crew of a Mexican Navy helicopter on its way to the Mexican capital advised an air traffic controller that a metallic spherical object had crossed its path in the vicinity of Chiquihuite Hill. The sighting was confirmed by the MCIA Control Tower on 13 February 2007 at 13:05 hours. As side note, Chiquihuite Hill is located to the north of the Distrito Federal and also covers a share of the state of Mexico, housing telecommunications antennae.Aviation pilot Captain Tarragona reported having seen, along with his crew, a luminous disk shaped object. He described it as "highly luminous" with red, blue and green lights, calculating that it was at distance of approximately 3 kilometers. According to his report, the pilot requested information from the Veracruz Center, asking if there was traffic in the area, and receiving a negative reply. This occurred during a nocturnal flight over the Gulf of Mexico and the exact date is unknown, estimating that it took place during the last week of January and early February 2007.Captain Peña, commander of an Aviacsa Boeing 737, remarked that he had a sighting during a daytime flight on the Mexico-Acapulco route. According to his account, the possible UFO resembled a basketball, with a metallic appearance, and it reportedly escorted his airliner for an estimated 5 minutes, coming dangerously close to the upper section of the aircraft's starboard wing. Subsequently, the sphere rose into the air and vanished from sight. Captain Peña added that he was convinced of the existence of UFOs. The exact date of this event is not known, and apparently occurred at the same time as the preceding report, that is to say, between January and February 2007.(translation (c) 2007. S.Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Ana Luisa Cid and Alfonso Salazar)

About Me

The Institute of Hispanic Ufology was established in October of 1998 with the appearance of the first issue of Inexplicata. The organization currently has representatives and contributing editors in over a dozen Spanish-speaking countries. Director: Scott Corrales.